Shannon Briggs faces Emilio Ezequiel Zarate this Saturday

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By Scott Gilfoid: Shannon Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) will be fighting last minute replacement opponent Argentinean Emilio Ezequiel Zarate (20-16-3, 11 KOs) this Saturday night on the undercard of the David Haye vs. Arnold Gjergjaj card at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

It’s kind of sad to say but the Briggs-Zarate fight will be the chief support for the Haye vs. Gjergjaj fight card. For Briggs, this is his third and hopefully final opponent scheduled for the card. Briggs was supposed to fight Alexander Dimitrenko initially. However, the 33-year-old Dimitrenko reportedly pulled out of the card. Then there was journeyman Jakov Gospic (17-14, 12 KOs) as Briggs’ potential opponent. Gospic never got past the rumor stage, so it wasn’t surprising that he was switched out for the 34-year-old Zarate.

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Shannon Briggs vs. Jakov Gospic possible for Saturday

briggs8By Scott Gilfoid: Former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) won’t be facing the 6’7” Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko as previously talked about, as Dimitrenko has reportedly pulled out of the fight unfortunately. Instead, the 44-year-old Briggs could wind up facing 33-year-old Croatian journeyman Jakov Gospic (17-14, 12 KOs) in a 10 round bout on the undercard of this Saturday’s heavyweight clash between David Haye and Arnold Gjergjaj at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

It’s too bad that Briggs won’t be fighting Dimitrenko, because he needs a good opponent like that to help build up a fight between him and the 35-year-old Haye for September. Fighting Gospic, who has lost seven out of his last ten fights, won’t create a lot of interest in the British boxing public for a Briggs vs. Haye fight, or at least shouldn’t create a lot of interest. I hate to say that Gospic is a “possible” opponent for Briggs because he’s definitely one that they’re looking at for the fight, but with the track record of this promotion in nailing down an opponent for Briggs, I won’t assume anything until I see Briggs standing across the ring with Gospic on Saturday night.

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Briggs: Haye’s lip was trembling when I ran up on him

briggsBy Scott Gilfoid: Shannon Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) says he had British heavyweight David Haye (27-2, 25 KOs) shaking in his boots when he confronted him recently at the O2 Arena in London, England during the Anthony Joshua – Charles Martin weigh-in. Briggs confronted Haye to ask him for a fight, and Haye seemed to get really nervous, especially when Briggs got in his face.

Briggs says he reached out and touched Haye’s hair and he didn’t do anything. Briggs says he saw Haye’s lip tremble at that time, and says he was scared.

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David Haye vs. Arnold Gjergjaj next Saturday

haye563By Scott Gilfoid: #6 WBA, #8 WBC, #11 IBF heavyweight contender David Haye (27-2, 25 KOs) will be facing little known unbeaten #14 WBO Arnold Gjergjaj (29-0, 21 KOs) next Saturday night on May 21st at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

This is the fight that will set the 35-year-old Haye up for a possible bout against 44-year-old former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) for the summer. Briggs is fighting on the Haye vs. Gjergjaj card against an opponent still to be determined.

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Shannon Briggs believes Anthony Joshua is the future of boxing

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By BT95: Shannon Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KO’s) is slated to face Alexander Dimitrenko (38-2, 24 KO’s) on the May 21st David Haye undercard. Briggs who is no stranger to delivering vicious knockouts was left very impressed by the recent 2nd round knockout performance of Anthony Joshua (16-0, 16 KO’s) against American heavyweight Charles Martin.

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Shannon Briggs vs. Alexander Dimitrenko official for May 21

dimitrenko323454By Scott Gilfoid: As of today, the heavyweight match between former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) and 33-year-old Alexander Dimitrenko (38-2, 24 KOs) is now officially been added to the David Haye vs. Arnold Gjerjaj card on May 21 at the O2 Arena in London, England.

I’m going to go on record right now by saying I don’t think Briggs can beat Dimitrenko. It’s bad that Briggs was given someone so similar to Vitali Klitschko in size and fighting style. Briggs was as harmless as a baby in his loss to Vitali in 2010. By having Briggs fight Dimitrenko, it puts Briggs in a nearly impossible situation to try and win this fight to get the Haye fight later this year.

This is the fight that Briggs must win for him to get a payday match against Haye later this year. Briggs, 44, recently came to the UK to force Haye, 35, to give him a fight, and Haye finally relented by telling Briggs that if he agrees to fight on his undercard on May 21, he’ll give him a fight if he wins his next fight.

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Shannon Briggs to fight Alexander Dimitrenko?

dimitrenko326By Scott Bells: I had read a couple articles today suggesting that heavyweight Shannon Briggs would be taking on B-level fighter Alexander Dimitrenko on the undercard of David Haye’s next show. If Briggs and Haye both win, they will face each other next.

Clearly this is a great fight for Briggs and one that will show people whether he should even be in the ring with Haye. After the beating he took off Vitali Klitschko a 6 years ago, from a health point of view, I certainly don’t want to see him in with a big puncher like Haye if he is likely to suffer a similar fate.

Unfortunately, the terrible opposition he has faced since has told us nothing about his ability to take a punch.

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Shannon Briggs vs. Alexander Dimitrenko on May 21

dimitrenko434333By Scott Gilfoid: 44-year-old WBO heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) will supposedly be facing 33-year-old Ukrainian Alexander Dimitrenko (38-2, 24 KOs) on May 21 on the undercard of David Haye’s next fight against Arnold Gjergjaj (29-0, 21 KOs) at the O2 Arena in London, UK.

Fightnews.com says Briggs told them that he’ll be fighting Dimitrenko on the card on May 21. This is going to be a tough fight for Briggs if this match-up turns out to be true, because Briggs is pretty old and hasn’t fought a live body in six years since his one-sided loss to Vitali Klitschko in 2010.

Dimitrenko is a very flawed heavyweight, as many people have seen, but he’s still not an easy out for someone as old as Briggs. Dimitrenko has only been beaten twice in his career in defeats to Eddie Chambers and Kubrat Pulev. Those guys weren’t old when they beat Dimitrenko.
Chambers fully outclassed and exposed Dimitrenko years ago on his own home turf

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Shannon Briggs added to Haye-Gjergjaj undercard

briggs66By Scott Gilfoid: American heavyweight slugger Shannon Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) has been added to David Haye’s May 21 undercard at the O2 Arena in London, UK. Briggs, 44, will be fighting an opponent still to be determined. If Briggs wins that fight, then he’ll be facing Haye in his next fight.

Haye has to get through his fight on the card against obscure heavyweight Arnold Gjergjaj. Haye would seem to have a victory in the bag with the choice of the 31-year-old Gjergjaj, but you never know. One punch is all it takes in the heavyweight division, as we saw last Saturday night with Anthony Joshua’s 2nd round knockout win over IBF heavyweight champion Charles Martin.

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Haye says he’ll fight Shannon Briggs

haye563By Scott Gilfoid: A very nervous and unsettled looking David Haye (27-2, 25 KOs) said earlier today that he’ll face 44-year-old American former WBO heavyweight champion Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs (59-6-1, 52 KOs) later this year if Briggs agrees to fight on his undercard of his next fight on May 21 at the O2 Arena in London, UK. If Haye didn’t want to be bugged by Briggs, then he should have agreed to fight him on May 21 straightaway instead of digging up this unknown heavyweight named Arnold Gjergjaj.

This was a real blow it move on Haye’s part because the obviopus thing he had to do was take the challenge and face Briggs. I can see why he wasn’t eager to do that though, because there’s some actual risk involved in facing Briggs. That’s a fight that Haye could very well lose if Briggs lands one of his big power shots. Gjergjaj is little more than a slapper at best, and he has nowhere near the kind of power that Briggs has. If Haye gets nailed by Briggs, it could end his dreams of getting a big payday fight against Anthony Joshua or Tyson Fury. Briggs has that kind of power where he separate Haye from his senses with a single blow.

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